


When I Sleep, I Dream Of You

by cosmic_croissant



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Angst with a Happy Ending, I am once again asking how do I tag, M/M, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, Origional Characters, they/them willie, willex reunion fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-28 21:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_croissant/pseuds/cosmic_croissant
Summary: It had almost been three weeks. Three weeks since Julie had hugged them back from the brink of existence (none of them were still quite sure how that had even worked, and the side effects were a little alarming). Three weeks since they had played the Orpheum, a performance twenty-five years overdue. Three weeks since Willie had hugged Alex goodbye, and Alex had clung to them like a lost boat in a storm, desperate for an anchor.Three weeks, and he hadn’t seen Willie since.Or- Alex is desperate to reunite with Willie. He didn’t think that finding them would be the problem.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fireflyingaway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflyingaway/gifts).



> Hi everyone😊 Thanks for clicking on this fic. This is for the JATP gift exchange on tumblr. Hope you enjoy!! This chapter contains a brief description of how the boys died, nothing graphic, but I thought I'd give a quick headsup just in case. Oh, and some very mild language.

It had almost been three weeks. Three weeks since Julie had hugged them back from the brink of existence (none of them were still quite sure how that had even _worked_ , and the side effects were a little alarming). Three weeks since they had played the Orpheum, a performance twenty-five years overdue. Three weeks since Willie had hugged Alex goodbye, and Alex had clung to them like a lost boat in a storm, desperate for an anchor.

Three weeks, and he hadn’t seen Willie since.

Except that wasn’t true, because he saw Willie _everywhere_. The lady he had heard giggling at the bus stop as they’d walked past; the man with long, flowing brown hair, shimmering in the light, who’d nodded at Alex from across the street; the streaked blur of someone whizzing past on a skateboard. Everywhere Alex looked, he saw them. It was almost as if the universe was taunting him.

Even now. Julie had dragged Alex to a cutesy record shop called “The Dreamcatcher” that she had found with Reggie the other week and Alex didn’t know how to explain it, but Willie was in everything. They were the big bright windows that were letting the afternoon sun turn the wooden floor a molten gold. They were the neatly stacked rows of vinyl, cassettes and CDs, dreams encased in plastic shields. They were the soft music drifting through the shop like a gentle breeze on a hot summer day.

Alex fiddled with his fingers, standing at the front of the shop. Julie had disappeared into the long line of shelves somewhere and Alex was acutely aware of how alone he was. He missed Willie a lot. He had never missed someone like this before, like his entire body and soul ached without knowing where they were. He had never been separated from Luke, Reggie or Julie long enough to know what it felt like. Now he knew, it felt like having the world ripped out from under his feet every time he remembered that Willie wasn’t there beside him.

Alex craned his neck, standing on his tiptoes, but Julie was truly lost somewhere in the stacks of music. Despite everything, a small smile tickled Alex’s lips. This was exactly the kind of place that Julie would love to get lost in, tucked in a nook somewhere, headphones plugged into a record player.

Recently, Julie had been finding a lot of places like this. It was almost as if the hug that they had shared three weeks ago had removed some kind of barrier separating her from the ghost world. She could see ghosts now, and Luke, Alex and Reggie were corporal whenever they touched her. But it wasn’t just that- she could _sense_ ghosts too.

The way she had explained it was that she wouldn’t know where her feet were taking her until she was there. As though she was being pulled by gravity to specific corners of the world. She had found an all-ghost café where Luke, Alex and Reggie had gorged themselves on all the food they could find, finally being able to eat without having to hold Julie’s hand. She had found the flower garden of an old, English ghost named Eloise when she was walking back from school and apparently the two of them had had a small tea party. She had even found the Hollywood Ghost Club, although all four of them had swiftly walked away from it. There was no way they would be going back there, not after everything that had happened. Even the thought made Alex feel suddenly cold, despite the bright sunshine.

And now, Julie had found this shop. It was only just dawning on Alex what Julie had said when they’d walked in, the shop bell tinkling- that this was a shop for lifers _and_ ghosts. Alex had only ever seen that in Caleb’s club, but something about the shop made the memory less frightening. Alex looked at the people around him with newfound curiosity. It was impossible to tell who was a ghost and who was a lifer. All Alex could see were people engrossed in music- swaying to different beats, eyes closed, humming, dancing- and he couldn’t stop the smile forming on his face.

“You like it?” said Julie. Alex turned to see her popping out from behind the nearest row of records, her hands behind her back, a suspicious smile on her face.

“Yeah,” Alex admitted. Julie’s grin widened and Alex suddenly felt wary. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, and she was clearly holding something behind her back. “What is it?” he asked.

She held it out, beaming proudly. “Look what I found!”

_It was the Sunset Curve Demo._

“Wha-…” Alex trailed off, because he wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. He plastered a quick smile onto his face because Julie was watching him and he didn’t want to upset her, but she pinned him with a shrewd look.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Alex sighed. “Nothing.” Julie raised an eyebrow, perching on a nearby shelf and patting the sun-soaked spot next to her. Alex sat down where she indicated and she leaned on his shoulder, her warmth and presence calming his mind a little. Of course, he loved the Sunset Curve Demo. But it felt like it belonged to a different life, when he was a different person.

He couldn’t look at it without remembering.

He remembered the years-long process of trying to make the demo, Luke sleeping on the studio couch after he ran away, Reggie often showing up to rehearsal in tears after yet another argument at his house, Bobby becoming distant and distracted in rehearsal. Alex’s own parents treating him like a stranger after they found out he was gay.

He remembered that night, that awful, painful night. The agony of the food poisoning, the way the three of them had been hunched over toilets when they should have been performing the gig of their lives. The sickening thud of Reggie falling to the floor, then Luke. The scared, panic sobs that had torn their way out of his throat as he tried to follow them, despite knowing that he would never be able to come back.

He remembered the anger that had consumed him when he found out Bobby stole their songs. The hours Luke had spent pouring over song lyrics. The way Reggie made every rehearsal without fail, despite not even having a bike because of the debt his parents were in, walking halfway across the city just to be there with them. The way Alex dragged himself out of deep, dark holes of anxiety solely to support his brothers and help their vision come true. All of it, dissolved to nothing because of Bobby’s theft.

The CD was a stark reminder of many things he was trying to forget. Alex felt a lump in his throat that he couldn’t swallow and his eyes were beginning to sting. _Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it-_

Alex felt Julie flinch as all the records on the shelf in front of them smashed to the floor.

“I’m sorry, holy crap, I didn’t mean to do that, I swear-” Alex knew he was rambling but the mess in front of him was making his brain short circuit, because it was _his_ fault.

It was another side effect of the hug that had brought them back from the edge of nothingness. Luke, Reggie and Alex could _levitate_ stuff, even themselves (although, for some reason, only Reggie had been able to properly hack the flying).

It would’ve been rad, if he could _control_ it.

“It’s alright,” he heard Julie saying distantly. She was pulling him into a hug but he couldn’t feel it. Alex felt trapped inside his own head, his thoughts reverberating around his skulls like bullets. It took a few minutes before he could properly hear the lazy shop music again, a few more to begin to feel the sun on his skin, the weight of Julie’s warm hands in his.

She gave him a small smile and he nodded. Julie let out a quick sigh before turning to the mess again, cringing slightly at the sight. The cases for many of the records had shattered, leaving the discs inside scratched and vulnerable. She stepped over the pile of shards gingerly, murmuring something about finding the owners of the shop.

Alex tried to pick out the unharmed records from the clutter, but every single one seemed to be scratched. He crouched back onto his heels, pressing his wrists into his eyes. Why could he not go one day without screwing everything up?

A gentle hand on his shoulder caused him to turn around, but it wasn’t Julie like he’d expected. A woman in a deep turquoise headscarf, which framed her brown, smiling face, had crouched down next to him and was sifting through the heap, looking for records to salvage.

Miraculously, she found more than Alex had in his panic. At least a dozen of the records were unscratched and Alex could feel his chest opening up again. “Thank you so much,” he said. He twisted his hands in his shirt, anxiously. “Do you think the owners will be mad?”

“I know the owners,” she said. “And I promise they won’t be.” Alex didn’t know why he believed her, but relief flooded through his body instantly, tension easing off his shoulders.

“I’m Alex,” he said.

“Asima,” she returned. As she spoke, Julie came rounding the corner again, eyes widening.

“Asima!” Julie said, pulling her into a hug.

“You guys know each other?” Alex asked, slightly bewildered.

“Yeah, Asima showed me and Reg round the shop when we were here last time and gave us a sweet deal on this country album that Reg found.”

“Wait, _you’re_ the owner?” asked Alex. Asima nodded, the same sly smile Julie had been wearing only minutes before now crowning her lips. “Oh man, I’m so sorry about the records, I had no idea-”

Asima cut him off by raising a hand. “It's fine.” She bent down and gathered the shattered records pieces into her arms and Alex and Julie watched curiously. When Alex realised what Asima was doing, his mouth went slack. Slowly, the records knitted themselves back together, becoming shiny and unscratched again. Alex was too shocked to even speak.

“Think of this place as a library,” said Asima. “We’re always happy to see new faces.” Alex smiled at that, as Julie bounced on her feet next to him, clearly itching to dive back into the rows of music. As soon as Asima finished speaking, Julie blew her a wild kiss, squeezed Alex’s arm and disappeared into the nearest row. Alex could’ve sworn he heard her _squeak_ with excitement.

Asima chuckled at that, and began stacking the fixed records back on their shelf. “How did you do that?” Alex asked. “I’ve only ever seen one ghost do magic like that, and he seems nothing like you.”

“If you’re referring to Caleb Covington, then I should hope not,” said Asima, her lips straightening into a thin line and her eyebrows furrowing. But her look of hostility melted when she turned back to Alex, her face as friendly and welcoming as it had been when he had first seen her. “This whole shop is charmed. Look.”

She pointed to the door leading out onto the street, where a little dreamcatcher was hanging over the threshold. Alex hadn’t noticed it before, but instead of a web of string criss-crossing the inside, there were wisps of smoke, coalescing in the middle to form a whirlpool of grey, bright sparks flashing every few seconds. “It allows both lifers and ghosts to come in here, and for damage to property to be fixed.” She smiled at Alex. “Pretty handy, right?”

Alex nodded, a little baffled. “I’m guessing you have much to discover about the ghost world.” Alex nodded mutely and Asima laughed. “Well, enlighten yourself about this shop at least. Go and explore, I can sort these,” she said, gesturing to the rest of the records.

“Are you sure?” asked Alex. Asima nodded and Alex took off down the sun-dappled stacks of records, excitement replacing the nerves that had been running through his body. He spotted Julie, crowded around something in the corner of the room. The music was much louder here, and Alex began tapping the beat with his foot without even realising.

She caught sight of him, and turned to let him see the huge gramophone precariously sat on a tiny, wooden table. “Isn’t this cool?!” she said. Alex nodded; Julie’s enthusiasm was infectious.

It was oddly soothing, watching the disc rotate round and round, music winding through the air around them, thrumming like a second heartbeat. Alex was mesmerised by the disc, the way the shadows on it jumped and morphed and changed as they spun, catching the light at different angles.

It almost looked like a figure. A tiny shadow person, with long hair flowing behind them, feet planted on a skateboard, darting around the disc like a shooting star.

They almost looked like Willie.

Alex knew it was completely stupid. He was seeing signs where there weren’t any, so desperate to see Willie again that his imagination was conjuring things. He looked up at Julie to see if she had noticed anything, but her eyes were closed as she hummed a beautiful harmony along with the song.

When he looked back at the disc, there were no shadows at all.

Sleep, whilst not necessary for ghosts, was still comforting. Alex lay on the studio couch, night air chilling the room slightly. Reggie had tucked a blanket around Alex and patted his head, before going off to talk to Ray. Luke was probably annoying Julie, and she was probably pretending to be annoyed despite secretly enjoying it. Alex scoffed at the thought.

Although he didn’t admit it to himself, Alex was hoping to dream of Willie. Dreams had been the only way for Alex to see them again and he was aware it was a little pathetic, but after the events of the day, he wasn’t sure he could reach a new low.

He tumbled into a dream as soon as he closed his eyes.

Willie turned to look at him, a small excited smile forming on their face at the sight of Alex. They began running towards Alex, but stopped abruptly. There was something separating them. Alex could feel it too, some kind of heavy curtain carving Willie from his world. Alex tried to slam his fists on it again and again, but they fell through, as insubstantial as air.

Willie’s lips were moving, but Alex couldn’t hear them. Their face, whilst briefly joyful only a moment ago, was becoming more and more worried, lines creasing their forehead. There was fear in Willie’s eyes.

Alex could only watch in horror as Willie’s shadow began to morph and change, just like the one on the record shop disc had. Except this time, it became bigger and darker until it swallowed Willie completely. The whirling black-no, _purple_ \- took shape, coalescing into the silhouette of a man in a top hat.

 _Caleb_.

Alex woke up with a frustrated sob, watery sunlight filtering into the room. The back of his neck was slick with cold sweat and Alex clawed off the now-suffocating blanket, scrambling and kicking his way out of it.

It was only when he was on the floor that he noticed his fist was tightly clenched around a piece of paper. He let it flutter to the ground before picking it up, dread lacing through his mind.

It was a note.

_Miss Willie? You know where to find me- Caleb_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes, it's pretty late where I am😅 Have a good day/night💛


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn was looking at the note in her hand sceptically. It was creased to the point of breaking, from the amount of times Alex had anxiously folded and unfolded it, begging that the words on it would somehow change. But they stayed the same, scrawled in an inky, looping script:
> 
> Miss Willie? You know where to find me- Caleb
> 
> Or- the group decide what to with the note Caleb left for Alex in his dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy. As a quick warning, this chapter contains a description of a panic attack, although it is fairly brief.

“Absolutely _not_ ,” said Flynn, staring incredulously at the four of them, as though they were ridiculous simply for entertaining the idea. They were sat on the studio couch, sunlight filtering into the space in warm rays. Alex’s shoulder was pressed against Julie’s, whose other shoulder was occupied by Luke's head. Julie had also slung her arm around Luke’s shoulders, in order to hold hands with Reggie.

It was a tricky setup, but it was the only way that Flynn could see all three boys at the same time, even if it did look like they were locked in a game of twister.

Flynn was looking at the note in her hand sceptically. It was creased to the point of breaking, from the amount of times Alex had anxiously folded and unfolded it, begging that the words on it would somehow change. But they stayed the same, scrawled in an inky, looping script:

_Miss Willie? You know where to find me- Caleb_

Alex could feel a headache settling into his brain, like a heavy weight, and he closed his eyes, pinching the space between his eyebrows. He felt Julie turn to him worriedly, before she squeezed his thigh with her free hand, stopping the nervous leg bouncing Alex hadn’t even realised he was doing.

“And this was somehow delivered to you in a dream?” asked Flynn. Alex nodded, looking up at Flynn through his linked fingers. Flynn’s eyes softened as they met Alex’s. “It’s a trap. I’m so sorry, babe.”

“What if this is the only chance we get? What if we could make a deal with him, or find a way to get around whatever he’s planned?” asked Alex, his voice rough from disuse. He had barely spoken all morning, the events of his dream playing out in his head every time he blinked. Willie’s distraught face, yelling words Alex couldn’t hear. He pushed off from his hands, looking up at the others.

They were all staring at him with varying degrees of fear, confusion and concern. Luke seemed the most concerned, leaning around Julie to speak. “Bro. Caleb doesn’t do things halfway, you know that. This is clearly a trap, there won’t be any loopholes. We have to try everything, of course, but we don’t need _his_ help.”

“But we haven’t even found a clue,” Alex said. He could feel his throat getting tighter, a huge lump refusing to move, making it hard to breathe. “Willie could be lost, or dying _again_ , or trapped somewhere, and this might be our last chance.” Alex broke off, his chest tight and painful.

“Alex might be right,” said Julie slowly, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist (Luke had made it for her, presenting it to her with a soppy, fool-in-love grin. She loved it). Four heads whipped round to face her in disbelief and she held her hands up in surrender, groaning as the boys suddenly became intangible again. She sighed, before reconstructing their complicated little loop of linked hands and shoulder budging, until Flynn gave her a thumbs up. “All I’m saying is, this is the only information we’ve had in _weeks_. We’ve beaten Caleb before; we can do it again.”

“It's too risky, Jules,” said Flynn. Reggie began speaking as well, and then Luke, and then Julie, until all of their voices mixed into a discordant cacophony. Alex’s head began pounding, the pain amplifying with each dull thud. The studio had suddenly become too stuffy, too loud, despite the doors being wide open.

Alex muttered something about needing some air, before quickly poofing away.

Alex had not had a clear destination in mind, but somehow, he ended up at the record shop. A wave of familiarity crested over him as he opened the door, the indistinct hum of music and chatter; the warmth of the bright morning sun, light glinting off the plastic cases lining the shelves; the woody smell of the shop mixed with the mustier smell of vinyl.

It once again hit Alex how much Willie would love this place, especially the way that ghosts and lifers could mingle without any barrier. It was so different to the Hollywood Ghost Club, where everything down to dress code was monitored, lifers restricted to black and white, and ghosts to every shade in between. That night that he had spent at the club with Willie, Reggie and Luke had been exhilarating, but it had felt so _fake_. The artificial brightness of the lights; the cloying smell of perfume, underlined with sweat; Caleb’s manipulative words and smiles.

There was nothing fake about the shop. Alex couldn’t put a name to it, but it felt exquisitely _human_.

Alex felt someone wrap their arms around his waist, burying their face in his pink hoodie. Alex felt his heart rate increase to almost light speed, before he heard the person speak, and immediately recognised their voice.

“We didn’t know where you went,” Reggie sniffed, his voice muffled by the hoodie. Alex turned in Reggie’s arms so that he could give Reggie a proper hug, and he felt Reggie relax, melting into the touch. “I thought you might’ve gone to Caleb.”

Alex squeezed Reggie tighter, the mention of Caleb suddenly making his skin cold. “How did you know I would be here?” Alex asked.

Reggie pulled back, a smile beginning to form on his face. “Julie said you liked it, last time you were here. It’s pretty rad, isn’t it?”

Reggie’s excitement was irresistible, and Alex found himself being tugged by the hand down the rows of records, till they reached the country music section. “Ta da!” said Reggie, flourishing with his hands. There were record players tucked into crevices in the walls, and Reggie slotted a disc in, slapped a pair of headphones onto Alex’s head, and waited expectantly.

Alex couldn’t help but smile. It was just the kind of music Reggie liked, a banjo plucking out a counter-melody to a woman singing about how love on a farm was better than love in the big city. Reggie’s face lit up as Alex nodded in approval and Alex grinned, slipping off the headphones.

As he did, a CD case on the top shelf caught his eye. It was slightly older than the stuff on the lower shelves, the colours a bit brighter and the resolution a lot less clear. He picked it up, suddenly realising why it was plucking at the strands of his brain. There were two grey-toned silhouettes on a blinding yellow background, and he recognised one of them: Asima. Her smile was the same, although she looked much younger, and her expression was mirrored on the face of the man next to her. Soft pink words on the top of the cover read: “The Dreamcatchers”.

Alex held it up for Reggie to inspect, who pounced on it immediately. “No way is this Asima and Haraz?” he asked, his voice full of awe.

“Who’s Haraz?” Alex asked.

“Asima’s husband. Co-owner of the shop. Julie and I met him last time we were here, he told me all about the evolution of country music since he’d become a ghost, how wicked is that?” Although speaking to Alex, Reggie’s attention was entirely consumed by the CD in his hands. Although Alex was dying to listen to it, another question had begun to press at the forefront of his mind.

“Where are the others?” asked Alex, suddenly realising that Julie, Flynn and Luke weren’t there with them.

Reggie’s mouth slacked into an “oh”, before he poofed out.

A few moments later, he poofed back in, a disgruntled Luke hanging from Reggie’s arm. “Julie and Flynn are on the way,” said Reggie. As Luke adjusted to his surroundings, his eyes became comically wide.

“What is this place?” Luke breathed, almost reverently.

“It’s called “The Dreamcatcher”. I found it with Julie,” Reggie said proudly. Luke punched Reggie’s arm playfully.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?!” Luke asked. Alex scoffed at their banter and Luke turned to him, pulling Alex into a brief, tight hug. “How ya doing, bud? We were all pretty worried when you poofed out.”

Alex felt his cheeks redden at that, guilt seeping into his brain. “Sorry, I just needed to get some air.”

“Nothing to apologise for,” said Luke, giving Alex his signature charming smile. Alex felt like rolling his eyes, but secretly felt relieved. He knew that his friends would never _really_ get mad at him for something small, but he worried all the same.

Alex and Luke turned to Reggie, who was jigging on the spot, clearly desperate to give Luke a grand tour. Luke rolled his eyes, before offering Reggie a grandiose bow and saying “Lead the way.” Reggie linked his arm through Luke’s immediately, and turned to Alex, raising his eyebrow in question.

“It’s ok, you guys go ahead without me, there’s some stuff I want to check out,” said Alex. Reggie nodded before practically skipping down the row, towing Luke by his side, as though they were walking down the yellow brick road. Alex smiled despite himself.

When Reggie and Luke had disappeared around the corner, Alex began weaving his way towards the big, brassy gramophone he had seen with Julie last time. He felt slightly pathetic, but he wanted to know if the shadows he saw had been real.

If Willie had been real.

The gentle shop music became increasingly loud as Alex neared the gramophone, before finally reaching a crescendo as he turned the corner. It sat in the corner of the room, barely balanced on a tiny, wooden table. The golden sheen of the metal shone despite the thin layer of dust that had settled on it.

Alex approached it, balling his clammy hands into fists. His heartbeat became faster and faster, until all he could hear was the throbbing of his pulse in his ears. Finally, he let his eyes fall on the disc, bracing himself for the worst.

There was nothing there.

It was just a disc, spinning happily, catching the golden light falling from the gramophone at odd angles. Alex felt like an idiot.

He let himself sink to the floor beside the table, his back pressed against the wood. There was a small stack of records under the table, and Alex pulled them out onto his lap. They had clearly been curated by someone, all too random to have been for general shop use.

Alex had to blow thick layers of dust off each cover, and each time it revealed something new. The first one was bright, bold, unmistakably 70s. Alex recognised the style from some of his older sister’s albums. The next was a grungier colour palate, 90s hip hop; followed by an older jazz record. The final one Alex couldn’t categorise, a soft mix of baby blues and purples, the title doodled in a silver too faint to read.

Alex didn’t know why, but looking at it made him think of Willie. Of course, he thought bitterly, that didn’t mean much, seeing as he was seeing Willie in everything.

Alex thought for a few minutes, pacing around the tiny square he had been sat in, before deciding to replace the current disc in the gramophone with the one he was holding. He knew Asima wouldn’t mind; he had seen other people doing the same thing earlier. He stepped back as he finally got the disc to start spinning, waiting for the music. He didn’t know what to expect and an unfamiliar, excited sensation crept over him. The disc was quiet, a void left in the shop without music filling the air.

Alex frowned. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong, and yet he was being confronted with a curtain of silence. Just as he was debating whether to take the disc out, he heard something. A tiny intake of breath, almost lost in the sound of the gramophone whirring.

Alex moved closer, straining to listen. He was sure it was coming from the record. As he did, the breathing got louder and heavier, until the sounds of someone gasping for breath occupied his entire hearing.

“ _ALEX.”_ Alex jumped at the scream, and then at the word. His own name.

“ _ALEX.”_ Alex slid to the floor, his knees buckling. That voice, he knew that voice. This wasn’t a trick, wasn’t a phantom shadow dancing across a disc. This was real, it was the only real thing in the world.

It was Willie.

Alex knew he should move; he should _do_ something. But he couldn’t breathe. The initial shock had stolen the breath from his lungs, but now he couldn’t seem to get it back. Alex kept gasping, trying to inhale air, but it wasn’t working. He could feel his head slipping, the world tilting. Willie kept screaming his name, and Alex couldn’t do anything but listen to it over and over and over-

“Alex!” A different voice was shouting at him now, this time much closer. He distantly felt warm hands on his shoulder and Julie’s face swam into his vision, blurring slightly. He felt sick, nausea rising up inside him. “Alex, breathe with me, OK? In, out. In, out.”

Alex tried to hold onto Julie, but his fingers were numb. Julie’s face filled his whole field of vision, and Alex tried to focus on her instead, on her words. Slowly, he caught his breath, sagging into her arms. It was only then that he realised he was murmuring something, the same words over and over again. _Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off._ Julie stroked his hair, letting him lean on her.

“It’s off, now, ok?” she said, pulling back to look at Alex. Flynn smiled weakly at Alex, having lifted the needle off the disc. Alex sighed, although he felt incredibly guilty. He should’ve done something, but he didn’t know what.

“Good,” Alex managed to get out. “You heard it too, right? I thought I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy-”

“Heard what?” said Flynn, wrinkling her nose. “The music?”

“No,” Alex said, looking from Julie to Flynn. They both looked confused and Alex’s heart sank. “You didn’t hear it?”

“Hear what?” asked Julie.

“Willie,” Alex said. It sounded stupid, but he had to tell them. He had to know something, _anything_ , about where Willie was. “It was Willie, screaming over and over again.”

Both Julie and Flynn’s faces warped in concern. Alex was unable to speak, no words forming on his lips. How could he explain something he didn’t understand? He needed an _answer_. As he realised the plan that was subconsciously forming in his brain, he felt familar dread consuming his mind. Because the closest thing he had to that was Caleb’s offer. He didn’t know what else to do.

Julie seemed to register the change in his expression, because she moved a hand out quickly, as though to keep Alex by her side. “At least let us come with you,” she said quietly.

“How did you know I was going?” asked Alex. Julie sighed, looking down, fiddling with the bracelet Luke had made her.

“Because it’s what I would do.”

The five of them stood outside the Hollywood Ghost Club, filled with varying combinations of anger, fear and apprehension. Alex clenched his fists tightly. He would rather know. He would rather Caleb give him a tiny scrap of information about Willie than wait in darkness forever. And no matter what Caleb wanted in return, Alex had a plan.

He would give anything, as long as Luke, Reggie, Flynn and Julie didn’t have to.

Anything, for Willie.

“You’re sure about this?” asked Flynn, staring worriedly at the imperial building, wreathed in shadows despite it being midday.

“No,” said Alex. “If any of you don’t want to come, I fully understand. But I need to do this.”

“And leave you all the glory? No way,” Luke said. Alex knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but there was still visible fear in Luke’s eyes, tension in his posture. Alex turned away from Luke to see Julie, who nodded at him, settling his nerves slightly. She held out her hand to Alex, and when he grasped it, he felt a wave of calm run through him.

“If we do this, we do it together,” she said. She held out her other hand to Flynn, who gripped it with a grimace. Alex in turn held Luke’s hand, and Luke held Reggie’s.

They crossed the threshold and didn’t look back.

“Hello, hello, hello,” said Caleb, his voice going up with each word. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” The Hollywood Ghost Club was eerily empty in the day, with only a few waiters milling about and a lone musician, idly practicing fingering on her saxophone. Any hope Alex had had of seeing Willie on arrival was instantly crushed, but he held his head up all the same.

“You know why we’re here,” said Alex, firmly. He heard the others murmur noises of assent around him, but he kept his eyes on Caleb.

“I know why _you’re_ here, Alex,” said Caleb, turning a nearby chair to sit on it. His feline relaxedness was unnerving, as he lounged on the chair, beckoning a waiter over and whispering a low instruction in their ear. Alex tensed, his body screaming at him to run. He stood his ground. “But what I want to know is why _they_ are here,” he said, gesturing to Luke, Reggie, Julie and Flynn.

“Because Willie is our friend too,” said Julie, stepping forward slightly. “And we want them back.”

“How touching,” said Caleb, a smile twisting his face. “All of you here to save our dear friend William. I can assure you they’ll be pleased.” The waiter Caleb had spoken to earlier appeared at his shoulder like a wraith, and handed Caleb a cocktail glass of a clear liquid. Caleb sipped it slowly, as though he was on a picnic. Alex dug his fingernails into his palms, trying to contain his anger.

“Tell us where Willie is,” Alex grit out. Caleb raised a sleek eyebrow, infuriatingly unfazed.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Alex,” said Caleb, leaning back in his chair. “Allow me to suspend your imagination for a moment.” The group had no time to react before a purple mist appeared in the air in front of them, consolidating to form a shimmering skyline.

Alex barely had time to exchange a worried look with Julie before Caleb began speaking again. “The city of angels is full of life, as you all well know,” he said, directing his last words almost smugly at Julie and Flynn, as though he was proud of being dead. “And all places full of life have ghosts.”

Caleb blew a kiss at the indigo skyline and it changed, a separate, lilac layer forming above the initial skyline. It was a faint tracery of the original, barely even a shadow.

“The ghost of this city is called the Veil. There are no lifers, no plants, no traffic, no noise. Not even a bird sings. It's beautiful.” Alex winced at the thought, a world without life. “It’s where our precious Willie is now, where they have been for the last few weeks.” 

Alex couldn’t breathe.

“Why are you telling us this?” asked Luke warily. Caleb’s smile grew even wider at that, splitting his face like a ghoulish mask.

“Because I have complete control of that realm. When I learnt my William had conspired against me, I sent them there for a moment of…” Caleb paused, looking for the word, before settling on “reflection.”

Alex’s heart stuttered. Willie was bound to a world stripped of life, unable to leave, unable to talk to anyone or do anything. The thought made Alex want to scream.

Caleb’s hand fluttered to something in the inside pocket of his finely tailored, indigo suit, and he pulled out a small key. It dipped and remoulded whenever he touched it, as though it was a ghost itself. It had to be it. The key to this realm that Caleb somehow owned. He was _flaunting_ it in front of them. Alex clenched his jaw, feeling his face contort in anger.

“Let me in.” Alex didn’t think before he spoke, and his friend’s heads all whipped towards him. Alex tried to continue, but he couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat, the hurricane of thoughts in his mind.

“Why?” asked Caleb, as glibly as if they were discussing the weather. He paused, taking a sip of his drink again, and the whole group watched in bated breath, too shocked to move. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal instead.”

“I’ll join your house band,” Alex said. “Just leave them out of it.” Caleb raised an impressed eyebrow. Luke cried out at the same time that Reggie started forward, knocking the table in front of him. Twinned expressions of concern clouded their faces.

“No way,” said Julie, angling herself to stand in front of Alex.

“As flattering as your enthusiasm is,” said Caleb, “you’re not the one I want.” Alex watched in horror as Caleb’s piercing blue eyes slid to Julie, locking contact through the writhing purple smoke separating them. Julie raised her head defiantly, jutting her chin out.

“No,” said Alex immediately, at the same time as Flynn, echoed by Luke and Reggie.

“Have it your way then,” said Caleb, slipping the key back into his pocket. Alex seethed. The key was his ticket to Willie, he was sure of it. And it was _right there_. He had to try.

Alex stepped forward, trying to focus his power. If he could levitate the key out of Caleb’s pocket, he could throw it to Luke who could poof out with it. Alex could then buy time for Julie and Flynn to escape. It was a fool proof plan, except for the fact that he could feel his face getting red, as though rage itself was flowing through his veins.

He tried to clamp down on his anger, shoving it to the back of his mind, so that he could focus his power, directing it towards Caleb and the key. But he could still feel it there, roiling like a storm in his thoughts.

He lashed out.

Instead of isolating the key, he felt all the tables in the room lifting up, before smashing to the ground. Caleb poofed away in a cloud of indigo smoke, taking his illusion city with him. _Taking the key with him_.

Alex was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as though he was submerged underwater. It was only when his mind started to settle that he heard the others behind him. He turned to see Julie, Luke and Flynn gathered around something on the floor. Some _one_.

Reggie was lying on the floor, slumped to one side, surrounded by table shards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading😊 Let me know what you thought in the comments!! Lots of love to you all, have a good day/night.


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